by Anne
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. I promise to return the characters in one piece, more or less, when I'm finished, but hold no liability for any physical injury or psychological trauma sustained by them in my fiction.
Michael Maxwell-Yuy belongs to me. Please don't use without permission or his fathers will kick your ass.
Dedication: For Sharon
Thanks to: Misanagi and Linda for beta reading.
"Daddy, watch me. I'm flying." Michael ran down the beach towards Heero, flapping his arms.
"I can see you," Duo watched them, laughing. Heero was crouched down, his arms open wide. He was smiling, the wind giving his hair an even wilder look than usual.
"Otosan! Catch me!" Michael dived into Heero's arms, and Heero swung him around in the air. "Flying. I'm flying."
"Yes, you're flying." Heero put Michael down after a few minutes.
"Wanted to go faster," the little boy pouted.
"We can go faster another time," Heero promised. "I thought we were going to go for a walk on the beach."
"You could help Daddy fly high too," Michael grinned. "Daddy likes flying. I heard him tell you to go faster."
Heero was damn cute when he blushed. "Otosan's right," Duo cut in quickly before Michael could repeat whatever else he'd heard. "This is good beach to walk on." He pointed towards a large piece of driftwood. "I bet you can't run that far without stopping."
"I bet I can."
"Bet you can't." Duo winked at Heero. "Bet you an ice cream that you can't."
"An ice cream with chocolate topping?"
"Is there another kind?"
"After dinner," Heero interrupted. "We'll buy you one after dinner if you can." Even now, with Michael having just turned seven, Heero had not given up on the child-rearing books, though he had muttered on occasion about how his son didn't follow the rules. Duo had shrugged, grinned, and said that it was part of the Maxwell charm.
"Course I can," Michael snorted. His eyes narrowed in concentration, the expression reminding Duo scarily of Heero when he was focused on a mission. Then he grinned again at his parents. "Piece of cake," he said, "and chocolate ice cream."
"Just the ice cream," Heero sighed. Duo snaked an arm around his waist, threading their fingers together as they watched Michael sprint across the sand.
"He was making a joke, baby," Duo said. "I think he inherited your sense of humour."
"My jokes are much better," Heero protested.
Duo laughed. "If you insist." Leaning over, he kissed Heero gently on the cheek. "He likes our beach."
"What's not to like?" Heero said softly. "I’m pleased you suggested we bring him here. Now I have another memory to make this place special."
"Can never have too many memories," Duo was quiet for a moment before he amended what he had said. "Good memories. We have a lot of those now, don't we? Starting to think they are outnumbering the bad."
"I look at you, and the good always outnumbers the bad," Heero turned him so that they were facing. "I don't regret any of this, Duo. I never have. We've had good times and bad, but we come through them together." He returned Duo's kiss, but on the lips, a soft kiss, the kind that always reminded Duo just why he had fallen for Heero. The glimpse Duo had seen of his now husband's potential had blossomed into so much more. Duo was happy with his life; he had love, family and friends. Often he wondered what he had done to deserve it, but Heero always said that hard work came with rewards.
Michael had reached the driftwood. He jumped onto it and waved to them.
"He's very active," Heero said, frowning. "Are all children this active? I know Alicia is, but her parents are Gundam pilots too."
"Hey," Duo said. "Normal is overrated." Although Heero didn't talk about it much, the old fears had never quite left him. "But yeah, all kids are active like this. At least the healthy ones are." Like Heero, he had his own fears. They might have put their past behind them, but it was too much of a part of them to ever truly escape.
"Michael is very healthy." Heero waved to him. "I'm often surprised considering how much he enjoys anything that contains chocolate."
"Chocolate is a major food group," Duo said. "Hilde told me that. That's why we buy her chocolate on Michael's birthday."
"I thought we did that to show that we've never forgotten how much we appreciate what she did for us."
"That too, but I like making sure she has a well balanced diet."
Heero chuckled. "I'm certain she appreciates the gesture." He stroked Duo's braid and smiled. "We need to go rescue our son from the driftwood. You owe him ice cream with chocolate topping."
"We owe him ice cream with chocolate topping," Duo corrected. He enjoyed Heero playing with his hair. "Maybe I'll get some extra chocolate and you can top tonight when Michael's gone to bed. All this exercise has to have worn him out."
"Flying higher and faster." Heero winked at him. "Maybe I'll even manage harder. After all, it's important to keep our energy levels up too." He kissed Duo again, and then started walking over to Michael.
Duo stared after him for a moment. God, Heero's ass was still damn cute too. "Chocolate ice cream. Melted chocolate." He licked his lips. The best memories were often the ones still to come.
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